Top 5 Actors in Bollywood – Box office battle

There has been a lot of discussion in the comments section as to who the Top 5 actors in Bollywood are at the moment. Most in the Singh Is King Box office collection topic were of the opinion that Akshay Kumar post Singh is King has gone past Shahrukh Khan as the King of Bollywood.

So we decided to do some research on the Top 5 actors in Bollywood and their last 5 movies. The actors included in the battle are Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

The results were quite unexpected. A few things before we give you the numbers.

Some points to remember are, actors with more releases in recent times (Post 2006) have an advantage over actors whose movies released in say 2003. That is because of the mutliplexes that have come up all over the country and also the increase in the number of prints.

So Akshay Kumar has a much bigger advantage over Aamir Khan as Aamir’s 5th movie Dil Chahta Hai released in 2001, when there were hardly any multiplexes. Also dont forget the inflation!

Here are the number.

5. Salman Khan – Salman Khan is at Number 5. We havent taken God Tussi Great Ho into count as it has just released last week and its final gross is awaited. He mainly suffers because of Marigold, as it did less than 1 crore of business in India! Salman has just one Blockbuster i.e Partner.

Jaan-E-Mann (2006) – 27 crores – Flop

Babul (2006) – 17 crores – Flop

Saalam-e-Ishq (2007) – 24 crores – Flop

Partner (2007) – 62 crores – Blockbuster

Marigold (2007) – 1 crore – Disaster

Total – 131 crores
Average – 26.2 crores per movie.

4. Aamir Khan – Aamir Khan although at a huge disadvantage is at Number 4. Imagine if Dil Chahta Hai had released today? It would have grossed atleast a minimum of 50 crores at the box office. Still since his come back the perfectionist has 2 Superhits and 1 Blockbuster to his credit.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001) – 16 crores – Hit

Mangal Pandey (2005) – 29 crores – Average

Rang De Basanti (2006) – 51 crores – Super Hit

Fanaa (2006) – 53 crores – Super Hit

Taare Zameen Par (2007) – 61 crores – Blockbuster

Total – 210 crores
Average – 42 crores per movie.

3. Shahrukh Khan – Has been affected big time due to the failure of Paheli. It didnt even get a face saving opening at the box-office and did just 13 crores. Rest of his movies have done well. KANK and Don bearly managed to go on to be hits. Chak De and Om Shanti Om were blockbusters.

Paheli (2005) – 13 crores – Flop

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) – 46 crores – Above Average to Hit

Don (2006) – 50 crores – Hit

Chak De India (2007) – 64 crores – Blockbuster

Om Shanti Om (2007) – 87 crores – Blockbuster

Total – 260 crores
Average – 52 crores per movie.

2. Akshay Kumar – Now this was a real toughie. But we decided to push Akshay Kumar down to second due to several reasons. He is the only star to not have a single solo ‘Blockbuster’ to his credit (Welcome was a multistarrer with Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Nan Patekar). Although we have included Singh Is King, it has not completed its complete run at the boxoffice. We had to predict the total nett gross of Singh Is Kinng to 72 crores (44 crores in week one is confirmed + 18 crores in week 2 is also confirmed + 6 crores in week 3 and about 4 crores in the rest of the weeks is a prediction). The other reason for placing him at second is he is the only actor who has the advantage of every movie releasing Post – 2006. No release in the Pre multiplex era of India Cinema.

Heyy Babyy (2007) – 52 crores – Super hit

Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) – 54 crores – Super hit

Welcome (2007) – 76 crores – Blockbuster (Multistarrer)

Tashan (2008) – 31 crores – Flop

Singh Is King (2008) – 72 crores – Hit to Super hit

Total – 285 crores
Average – 57 crores per movie.

1. Hrithik Roshan – By far the youngest actor in the list, Hrithik Roshan by pure box office numbers of India, tops although by a very close margin. 2 solo blockbusters (KMG, Krrish), 1 multi star Blockbuster (Dhoom 2) and 1 Super hit (Jodha Akbar). His only failure in the last 4 years has been Lakshya which did average business at the boxoffice. A great comeback after about 6 failures in a row after Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.

Hrithik also has two movies pre 2006 which is a disadvantage.

Koi Mil Gaya (2003) – 44 crores – Super Hit

Lakshya (2004) – 23 crores – Average

Krrish (2006) – 66 crores – Blockbuster

Dhoom 2 (2006) – 86 crores – Blockbuster

Jodhaa Akbar (2008) – 63 crores – Super Hit

Total – 282 crores
Average – 56.4 crores per movie.

The whole list might change when Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Chandni Chowk To China release in December. SRK could make it to the top if Rab Ne works big time. How Chandni Chowk fares will also be interesting. Hrithik’s kites releases in the summer of 2009 and there is news that it could be sold for 100 crores if not more. Aamir Khan’s Ghajini too releases this year end and is expected to create boxoffice history.

We will post an update here after all the 3 movies; Rab Ne, Chandni Chowk and Ghajini release.

Note – These figures are only of how the movies fared at the Indian Box-office. Shahrukh Khan is the undisputed king of the overseas box-office. Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan come a close second and third.

Lets discuss below, if you dont agree with the article please post a comment on why. Thank you for reading.

762 Comments

What you are saying is total BS. You are ONLY counting the Indian grosses of a movie. You are NOT COUNTING THE TOTAL GROSS INCOME. You completely throw out all foreign income for NOREASON. Why? To judge anthing on a financial basis reason you MUST include all income for the product or person’s movies. If you did then of course the REAL outcome would be completely different with Shahrukh Khan coming out way ahead. There is no reason to cut off all of the very large sums of money that these movies make outside of India!!!

Congratulations Hrithik.. ( you really deserve it) and I hope that Shahrukh will go back to the same position in future, after the release of his 2 movies and ( both Hrithik & Shahrukh will be at no. 1)

Although I’m sure that it’s just like a race, today Hrithik is No. 1, tomorrow will be Akshay, after tomorrow might be Aamir but Salman ( I don’t think so.. sorry Salman) he might make it one day, no one knows, it depends on the movies he’ll do.

BUT I’M SURE, THAT HRITHIK WILL CONTINUE DOING BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES, AND IF WE JUST COMPARE ALL THE 5 ACTORS, ( IN THEIR LOOK ONLY) HRITHIK & SHAHRUKH, BOTH WIN FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

HRITHIK IS THE MOST GOOD LOOKING ACTOR AMONG THE 5 AND WILL REMAIN AS HE’S YOUNG.
SHAHRUKH IS THE MOST ATTRACTIVE ACTOR IN BOLLYWOOD, AND WILL REMAIN, EVEN IF HE REACHES THE AGE OF 60, EVEN IF HIS HAIR BECOME WHITE AND HAVE SOME WRINKLES IN HIS FACE ( AND WOULD LOOK IN FUTURE LIKE VEER, IN HIS MOVIE VEER ZARA, WHEN HE’S OLD) HE WOULD BE STILL ATTRACTIVE AND WIN HEARTS)

A word to all Punjabi/pakistani:

Don’t feel bad as Akshay is not number 1 today, but he might be tomorrow by doing some more blockbuster movies.

I used to send my messages to Shahrukh Khan, not to do some crap movies thru some websites e.g. Om Shanti Om & Don, but if these kind of movies satisfy the majority and what matters is the box office (only) then I would ask him the following:

Sharukh, although I don’t like these kind of movies ( and I loved some of your movies which didn’t do well at the box office e.g. Paheli, Dil Se, Asoka) so go ahead, do them that u win back your position!

My personal view of if a film is good is if I (or you) like it and i (or you) sit through it at the cinema in it’s entirety without walking out…..then when it is released on dvd you watch it all the way through without hitting fast forward once – what does is matter about how well it did financially or what the “critics” say for that matter?

Some of the films mentioned above that are down as flops I absolutely loved and some that are down as superhits I was bored senseless with. So who is right about their popularity me or the critics? It’s all down to personal taste.

Of the five actors mentioned above in order my (personal) top five in order of popularity is

.and I know some people reading this will disagree. But my point is what does it matter if someone else doesn’t like my personal preferences? That’s the point IT’S MY CHOICE – not someone elses and certainly NOT a “critics” choice

We have calculated the Total Nett Gross. Nett Gross is the All India Gross minus the taxes which goes to the government. (about 30%)

Regarding overseas collections, we have clearly mentioned that this battle is only the Top 5 actors at the Indian Box-office.

And if you take the overseas box-office the top 3 are still the same.. We have mentioned that too, SRK is top overseas followed closely by Hrithik and Akshay Kumar.

One more reason for not taking oversea collections into count is, its hard to get all the figures. We get collections from only US, UK and Australia (Even finding the total collections of some movies at those countries is tough) Next is we have to convert it the foreign currency into rupees at that particular time.

Say for example Rupees was at 45 per dollar in 2006 – 2007.. But when Tashan released it was probably around 37.. Thats a huge difference. So calculating the exact box-office figures from overseas was literally impossible.

i disagree with this listing. you need to look at the number of solo hits an actor has given over the last few years. the only actor that has given more solo hits than any other actor is akshay kumar. hrithik is nowehere near. he is way below, only giving two solo hits.

your list relies on total gross of all the movies. that cannot be used to decide an actors position. simply because the box office takings of a movie rely on various factors, such as the marketing ability, total number of prints in circulation, the period of time when the film is released – i.e. could affected by mood in country etc. so your list is not a correct portrayal.

Clearly shows you havent read the complete article. I have clearly mentioned why Hrithik is ranked ahead of Akshay Kumar although it was very close.

Let me repeat

1) Singh is King is still at 61 crores, it still has to reach 72 crores which we have taken as the total gross.

2) Hrithik has one movie in 2003 and 2004 before the Multiplex era. So a 44 crore Koi Mil Gaya in 2003 might have easily grossed about 80 crores in 2008. Same with Lakshaya, even the first week of Lakshya could have been about 35 – 40 crores which is about one and a half times of its total collections in 2004. Get the point?

3) Now the main point regarding Solo hits. Get your facts right here.. Hrithik has 3 solo hits which were HUGE in collections. Krrish, KMG, Jodha Akbar.

Akshay doesnt have even one solo blockbuster. He just has 2 solo hits (Bhool Bhuliyaa and now Singh Is King) Welcome, Heyy Babyy were multistarrers.

4) We have just taken into count the last 5 movies. So there is no question of Bhagam Bhag and Phir Hera Pheri. Although both BB and PHP were multistarrers. Akshay was not the solo hero.

Lastly, i would like to see Akshay prove himself in something that is not a mindless comedy. Every movie of his in the last 2 years (except maybe Namaste London) have been mindless comedies. Bhagham Bhag, Welcome, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiya.. all comedies! Tashan (or was it?) wasnt a comedy, it flopped. Jaan-e-mann wasnt a comedy it flopped!

So my question is can Akshay Kumar do a Chak De India like SRK? Rang De Basanti or Taare Zameen Par like Aamir? Or a Koi Mil Gaya or Jodha Akbar like Hrithik??

If he manages to do that convincingly and the movie clicks at the boxoffice, Akshay will be remembered 50 years down the line as one of the greatest actors (not star) that India has produced.

Indicine Team: Hi.. in Boxofficeindia website, I read that the most movie which did a huge collection from the year 2000 till 2008 is Dhoom2. The collection for this movie was more than any other movies released during this period of time.

U said to one of the commentators: Can Akshay play Hrithik’s role in KMG or JA, and u didn’t mention if he could do a movie like (Dhoom2) or dance like Hrithik! definetly Akshay, at this stage, won’t be able to do it only if he plans to change his look, his roles and his style.

But as I said already in one of my comments, that evey actor got his flavour, each one of them is different than the other in the performance, the style, the look, etc, but some actors deserve to be on top like Hrithik because he plays in (difficult roles), this point must be noted when we compare which actor is the best as some actors r able to do even 5 to 6 movies in a year as they can finish a movie within a month only! their roles never demand hard work for long time, but others who really do difficult roles, it’d take them 6 months or a year to finish a job, a quality job, so they can’t do more than 2 or 3 movies at maximum in a year, so does Aamir Khan and Shahrukh.

In my opinion, that Akshay Kumar can do, but he has to change his style, he must do a very serious action romantic movie, a big movie not like the movies he did in the past ( I can’t recall any of Akshay Kumar’s action movies which was so good!)

Akshay looks nice when he doesn’t smile, when he got a serious face, and the only movie which I saw for him, which he had a serious facial expression and he fitted in was his debute movie ( it wasn’t a good movie but he had what he lacks now, I can’t remember the name of the movie)

He must change his roles now to a completely different ones. He must build muscels, must also gain some more weights, and try to retrieve his look during 90’s, must have a strong face & body with a tan colour. He really fits in what I mentioned and will easily reach the top.

i still disagree with your evaluation. the sarcasm in your comments clearly shows that you are biased, and for some absurd reason you tend to favour hrithik over akshay or even shah rukh. it appears to be a personal choice of yours.

if hrithik released more than 1 movie a year, they would not do very well at the box office. as he only has about 1 release a year, it becomes a huge hit, simply because people are keen to see it due to a hrithik film being released after a long time. thus his 1 film a year becomes a hit by default.
remember the days hrithik released several films a year ? none of them did well !

to illustrate the point, lets say after dhoom 2, hrithik was to release 3 mediocre films. none of which people liked and which became flops. if jodha akbar released after this, do you think people would go to see the film ? no, they would not. at best the film would do average business because the majority of the audience would have been dissapointed with his 3 previous mediocre films. hence jodha akbar would not have done well.
so the fact that hrithik releases 1 movie a year, is to his advantage.
now imagine if post dhoom 2 , hrithik released several more movies, which were flops. this will now mean according to your evaluation above, that hrithik should be way down the pecking order !! get my point ??

so by releasing 1/2 films a year, hrithik is immediately at an advantage over lets say shah rukh or akshay. if hrithik released several films a year, he would be way down your pecking order above.
so your pecking order above is not a correct evaluation. you have not taken many important factors into account.

so , you see, your top 5 list is not a correct evaluation and is flawed.

another thing you need to look at when doing the evaluation, is which actor has the ability to give big hits with small banners or unknown banners. that actor surely must be a top actor. if you look at hrithiks big hits dhoom 2, KMG, and KRISSH., JODHA AKBAR. THEY WERE ALL BIG BANNERS, and almost guaranteed him hits. how many hits has hrithik given with small banners ? akshay has given many hits with small banners. that is a mark of a real superstar.

if hrithik released several movies with small banners, i can assure you they will not fair well at the box office.

i gurantee you this, hrithiks forthcoming movies (except for krrish 2) are not going to do that well. as i understand they are with mediocre directors. and they will not be able to raise the profile of an average actor like hrithik as the big directors did in dhoom 2, krrish etc. so i do not think those future movies of his will do well. remember , you heard it from me first.

so hrithik is no way no.1 !! akshay is way ahead. akshay has the ability to turn mediocre mindless comedies into big hits. only an actor with superstar pedigree is able to do that.
in terms of you questioning his acting abilities, just wait till chandni chowk, blue, and the nagesh kukunoor movie that akshay is doing to be released. those are different movies which require a variety of acting skills. you will see his different acting abilities and then you can comment. iam sure he will prove you wrong about your incorrect judgement. watch chandni chowk and see him match acting abilities with foreign actors !

also, i did not say that you should have included bhagam bhag and phir hera pheri in your list. what i said was ‘do you remember those hits’ ? that was it. so, please get it right. and i mentioned nothin about singh is kinng.

until hrithik is able to give several hits with small banners, he cannot be considered as a superstar in his own right. and undoubtedly cannot be considered better than akshay or shah rukh. he needs to reach a position where he can safely give hits with small and big banners alike. until then , he cannot be compared to akshay. akshay has proven over the last few years that he is capable of turning anything into box office gold and he has raised the profile of many mediocre directors. akshay is truly the undisputed king of the box office, hrithik is way below him.

Raj, there is no question of being biased. I have clearly given the numbers. They speak volumes..

I agree with 2 points that you make.

One, superstars should be able to carry small banners to success. Agreed. But if you take that point seriously, its Aamir Khan who should be at the top! Ashutosh Gowariker and Lagaan was nothing, Aamir made Ashutosh big. Rakesysh Om Prakash Mehra was nothing after Aks, Aamir turned his fortunes around. The banner doesnt matter eventually. Its the actors and directors that make a big movie. E.g UTV makes 2 crore movies with small stars as well as 50 crore movies with big stars..

If big banners can guarantee a hit.. Then Yash Chopra’s son Uday Chopra should have been the biggest superstar today. Isnt he the son of the leading production house in India? It doesnt work that way. The actor has to be able to first and foremost carry a movie.

Second point.. Gap between movies. Yes it makes a difference, but as someone mentioned here, Akshay Kumar movies take just one – two months to be made and they are comdies. can a Ghajini / Jodha Akbar / Krrish be made in such a short time? Akshay Kumar himself on Dus Ka Dum said one of his comedy movies Mujshe Shaadi Karogi took just 36 days to shoot.

Quality movies, with great script, music and sets take a long time to be produced. Scripts like Heyy Babyy, Welcome, Singh Is Kinng can be written in a week. There is no story in the first place, is there?

Again, back to your gap between two movies comment. Take Rajnikanth for example, he is the biggest star in the country purely by box office power. He makes 1 movie in 2 – 3 years.. So does that get him down the ranking? I guess no.

I have nothing against Akshay Kumar. He is one of the biggest sensations.. From a chef to India’s biggest superstar, he has achieved the impossible. Would love to read his auto biography but as a Akshay Kumar fan myself i wish he does something more serious. Something that brings the actor out of the star. Its been too many comedies, lets see something more serious on the lines of CDI, Jodha Akbar or RDB / TZP from him now. Wouldnt that make his fans happy? Critical Acclaim as well as box-office success?